A True Friend
by Irhaboggles
Summary: After befriending Elphaba, Galinda realizes how fake her original friend group had been. She still misses them, but hearing them slander her and Elphaba make her realize that she has found a far truer friend in Elphaba than she'd ever had in anyone else ever before. Well and truly, Elphaba had changed her life for good.


Galinda had spent her life in luxury and simplicity up until the day she met Elphaba Thropp. The green-skinned girl, who was also her roommate at Shiz University, changed Galinda's whole perspective on life. Because of that, Galinda could never go back to her old, simple life of fashion and flirting. Something had been irreversibly changed within Galinda from the very moment she met Elphaba. Part of her, however, liked the thrill of newness, and she liked how this new perspective on life expanded horizons for her in ways she could've never imagined. Elphaba had taught Galinda so much in their short time as friends and it was something Galinda would never be able to repay her for. Elphaba had opened so many new doors and windows for Galinda and, for the first time ever, Galinda felt as though she had found a true friend.

At the same time, however, there were certain aspects of this new life that Galinda resented. One of the largest was the painful realization about how... fake, her old life and old friends had been. Before Elphaba had ever entered the picture, Galinda had been a part of a nice little circle of friends. She had been happy with her little circle. After Elphaba had entered the picture, however, Galinda began to see what a charade that entire circle had been. It was an uncomfortable epiphany, to say the least.

"Did you see Galinda yesterday? She was hanging out with the green bean!" Pfanee whispered to Shenshen and Milla one day as they walked through the hallowed halls of Shiz. Galinda, who was in the next hall over, began eavesdropping, using a spell to sharpen her hearing.

"I know, how un-cool can you get?" Shenshen snickered coldly in agreement.

"Yeah, I don't think we should hang out with her anymore," Milla added sincerely. "She's a bad influence!"

"You're totally right, Milla" Pfanee agreed with a nasty grin. "Ms. Arduenna-Upland has proven where her loyalties lie, now let us do the same!"

"With each other!" Shenshen chanted. "We don't need that loser mucking up _our_ popularity!" and the others nodded in agreement.

"Then it is official! Galinda is no longer a friend of ours!" said Pfanee. Shenshen seemed pleased with this decision, but Milla looked a tiny bit sad.

"And to think we used to be friends!" she sighed regretfully. She seemed to be the only one of the trio to be even a little bit mournful about this loss of Galinda. The other two, however, were quick to sneer.

"Don't lose any sleep over her!" Pfanee and Shenshen commanded of Milla. "She isn't worth it!" and Milla was forced to agree.

Galinda heard no more of the conversation, having finally broken down into tears and run away before she could be caught snooping. She had never run so fast before, and she didn't stop until her teary face was buried deep in her fluffy pink pillow back in her dorm room, door firmly shut and locked as she sobbed her heart out. Perhaps she and her little squad hadn't been on good terms ever since she began to hang out with Elphaba, but to hear them dismiss her so quickly, callously and completely stung far more than she thought. She began to bawl out her grief and loss, feeling hurt, embarrassed and betrayed.

"How?!" she screamed into her pillow. "How?! How can they just abandon me like that?! We've been friends for years! How can they be so quick to dump me?! Can't we still be friends anyway? It wasn't that much of a change!"

But as Galinda continued to cry, new thoughts began to fill her mind. They weren't any better than her previous ideas.

"Were we ever even friends at all? Or was it all only a lie?!" she demanded, face still buried in her pillow. It was soaking now. And she soon began to bemoan her fate of being so alone. "Am I cursed to be alone forever?" she demanded. "Will I never find a true friend who is actually willing to care?" and she reflected back on all the times across her childhood where she'd been considered the odd-girl-out just because she was different. Maybe that was why she'd taken up with Pfanee, Shenshen and Milla. It wasn't because she actually liked them, (though she had definitely grown fond of them during the time that they were friends, hence why their disowning of her hurt so badly) but because she just wanted to stop the loneliness and isolation she felt without them. And that was not a true friendship. It wasn't that she liked the trio, it was that she hated loneliness.

Suddenly, then, Galinda managed to think of Elphaba.

"And to think, she's been through this same level of loneliness!" the blond whimpered. "How does she bear it?" By now, Galinda was so emotional already that just thinking about other people's pain only made her cry even harder. Funnily enough, it was in this moment of self-pity that she managed to find her most selfless and empathic side. But speak of the Devil! Galinda was right in the middle of worrying and weeping about Elphaba when who should show up at the dorm except Elphaba herself?!

"Galinda? What's wrong?" Elphaba asked, alarmed to see the sweet little blond crying so hard. She wasn't sobbing like earlier, but it was still pretty bad. And it certainly had not been what Elphaba had expected to see when coming back to the dorm from her last class.

"Mmmph!" Galinda yelped, cry somewhat stifled by the pillow her face was still buried in. She jumped right up out of bed and faced Elphaba.

"Nothing!" she cried, but the puffy red eyes and tearstains begged to differ. Elphaba didn't even need to do anything other than wordlessly point at Galinda's face and Galinda already knew how effective her lie had been.

"Galinda, please, tell me what's the matter," Elphaba cautiously approached Galinda and sat her back down on her bed, wrapping an arm gently around her side. Behind the gentleness in Elphaba's voice, however, there was an anger and urgency in her eyes. She wanted to know just who, or what, had caused Galinda to melt down so completely. But since she knew Galinda would only speak on her own terms, she fought hard to remain calm, cool, collected and caring. It worked, and eventually, Galinda confessed.

"I'm scared," she said, and then she explained why.

Once Galinda's tale was over, Elphaba inhaled deeply.

"So, you're saying that you feel scared because I've changed your outlook on life and now you feel estranged from everything that used to be familiar and safe to you?" she asked. Galinda nodded miserably.

"Bingo," she said. "And I bet you think I'm a real coward, huh?" she added, voice full of self-loathing.

"Not at all!" Elphaba cried. "You aren't the only one who's scared."

"What?" Galinda looked up at Elphaba in surprise, and Elphaba nodded back down at her with a serious expression in her eyes.

"Remember, Galinda, I'm new at this whole 'best friends' thing as well. I'm just as terrified and uncertain as you are. You aren't the only one whose beliefs have been challenged and changed by this new relationship between us..." then it was Elphaba's turn to confess.

"Guess we're more alike than either of us first thought, huh?" Galinda laughed wetly as Elphaba finished revealing her own secrets and insecurities. Elphaba nodded back, stroking Galinda's hair gently.

"I'm glad I was finally able to tell you," she said.

"And I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to do so," Galinda replied, leaning deeper into Elphaba's arms.

"And hey, if there's anything else you ever want to talk about, you know I'll always be around to lend an ear, right?" Elphaba added.

"Of course, because I feel the same way about you," Galinda said, and for the first time that day, she began to smile.

The next day, Galinda passed Pfanee, Shenshen and Milla in the hall. She refused to acknowledge them, but she noticed that they seemed scared of her. They weren't kind to her, but they were far from rude, and they didn't speak to her at all. In fact, they barely even looked at her! Galinda could sense that it was not because of disdain or anger, but she couldn't deny how uncomfortable it made her feel to think that they no longer even wanted to see her. She wasn't sure what to think as they passed her by, eyes firmly glued to the floor, and lips locked.

"Isn't it odd? You'd think I was a monster!" Galinda asked Elphaba over lunch. Right as Galinda said this, Pfanee, Shenshen and Milla all entered the café. But the moment they caught sight of Elphaba and Galinda, they whipped around and walked right back out the door without a sound. Elphaba snorted in amusement, having seen this little display. Because Galinda's back was turned to the café door, however, she did not see them enter, nor did she notice their very hasty exit.

"What's so funny, Elphie?" Galinda asked, a bit put off by Elphaba's response to her genuine remark.

"Oh, trust me, my sweet, those three blithering idiots did run from a monster," she said. "But it was not you, it was me."

"What?" Galinda repeated, but this time, there was a note of hurt on behalf of Elphaba that lingered in her voice. Elphaba wasn't a monster!

"Oh, I just so happened to hear them bad-mouthing you, and I told them straight out that gossiping was rude," Elphaba said.

"And they listened?" Galinda was amazed.

"Not at first," Elphaba admitted. "They first told me that it wasn't really their fault, there was just too much to talk about regarding the two of us, but then I offered to help them..." Elphaba trailed off, a wicked smile slowly spreading across her face.

"Elphie. What did you do?" Galinda asked warily, sensing where this was going.

"Nothing too bad," Elphaba replied easily. "Just a little Silencing Spell. It will wear off by tomorrow."

"Oh! Elphie! You terrible, mean thing!" Galinda laughed, reaching out across the table to clutch Elphaba's hand gratefully.

"Anything for you, my sweet," Elphaba replied, squeezing Galinda's hand just as fondly. "Just promise me that if you are ever being hurt or bullied again that you'll come to me and talk?" she asked.

"Only if you promise to do the same," Galinda replied. "I may be the more emotional one between the two of us, but I am not weak!"

"Of course not, my sweet," Elphaba promised. "Of course not."

Later on that day, as Galinda walked alone to her final class of the day, that blithering trio walked on by, looking nervously down at their shoes with their mouths still clamped tight. Galinda couldn't help but laugh as she finally realized why they had been so intent upon avoiding her, and why they hadn't even spoken to her.

Galinda had spent her life in luxury and simplicity up until the day she met one Elphaba Thropp. The green-skinned girl, who was also her roommate at Shiz University, changed Galinda's whole perspective on life. Because of that, Galinda could never go back to her old, simple life of fashion and flirting. Something had been irreversibly changed within Galinda and she was never able to go back to the olden days. Part of her, however, liked the thrill of newness, and she liked how this new perspective on life expanded horizons for her in ways she could've never imagined. Elphaba had taught Galinda so much in their short time as friends and it was something Galinda would never be able to repay her for. Elphaba had opened so many new doors and windows for Galinda and, for the first time ever, Galinda felt as though she had found a true friend.

**AN: Just an added scene where Galinda deals with the fallout of turning her back on her three closest friends, because let's be real, as quick as Galinda seemed to get over them in the musical and book, there would definitely be a lot more pain on her end, I think, just because of how enormous her decision to choose Elphaba over them was. Mad respect for Galinda for finding the strength not only to turn her back on three bad influences, but also to be able to keep her head held high even after such a giant decision. She really is an amazing and courageous character, yet it's all always wrapped up in a little blond ditz who is still very much afraid and uncertain. It's why she's one of my favorite characters of all time! She's both brave and scared at the same time, and they compliment each other excellently!**


End file.
